Automatic reeling machine



Dec. 27, 1938. 1. KOWADA AUTOMATIC REELING MACHINE zsnets-sneet 1 FiledJan. 12, 1952 60 Kowada v6/vT0/ 927M Dec. 27, 1938. KOWADA AUTOMATICREELING MACHINE Filed Jan. 12, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m 1/ r W W PatentedDec. 27, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT orrlcr.

versal Winding Company,

Boston, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application January 12,1932, Serial No. 586,215

2 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in a reeling machine whereinnatural silk thread is automatically reeled off from. cocoons. Its mostimportant characteristic points lie in the fact 5 that on one side ofthe cocoon releasing pan, a conduit suitable to admit and pass one rowof cocoons is provided and all threads issuing from the cocoons aresustained by a sustaining rod and on the end of the conduit nearest tothe cocoon releasing pan, a curved check plate is provided, leavingappropriate clearances on the under side, one side and back side, and onone side of the cocoon releasing pan, a movable lever for the additionofa new filament is provided, the end of which is placed close to thecheck plate andwhich is used as a hook for picking up the cocoon andfishing the added new filament and by keeping this movable lever for theaddition of threads to rock in the direction of the axis of the conduit,the fishing hook picks up one row of cocoons along the surface of thecheck plate and then lets it drop down to the cocoon releasing pan andat the same time takes the new filament to the rotating zone of therotary catcher of threads and lets them come down along the back side ofthe check plate and then to the front side of check plate and in shortprovides the device for the automatic supply of cocoons through certainpassages as explained above.

A further characteristic point of this invention is as follows:

In front of a conduit suitable to pass one row of cocoons, a funnelshaped cocoon basin is provided and near the entrance where the co coonsproceed from the basin toward the conduit, guide plates for regulatingthe passage and transportation of the cocoons are provided along theboth sides of the basin and made movable and reversible alternately inopposite directions. and parallel to the axis of the conduit and whenthe cocoons thus proceed from the basinto the conduit, they push eachother and thus they regularly and automatically proceed in the conduitin good order.

A further characteristic point of this invention is as follows: acertain stretch is given to the thread passing from the rotary catcherof thread ends to the reeling frame and the thread is made to pass overa roller, constantly tending to come down and only prevented from doingso by the tension of the thread proportional to the degree of finenessof the thread.

When the threads become thin on account of dropped cocoons etc., thetension of the thread decreases which causes the roller to move, and,when the motion of the roller attains a certain point a movable point of.the roller sustaining lever is electrically connected with thestation'- ary point and the starting of the supply of cocoons with thebeaten ends commences.

Another characteristic point of this invention is as follows:

To a constantly rotating large friction wheel, a small friction wheel ismade to come in contact and to rotate by the transmission of the motionand is fixed to one end of the axis of the reeling frame closelyneighbouring to the small friction wheel and on the same axis, a ratchetwheel is provided and also a click enabling it to engage with or stopthe ratchet wheel is provided at the end of bell crank rocking lever,connected to the connecting rod for starting or stopping the rotation ofthe reeling frame.

The ratchet wheel end of the reeling frame axis is sustained by amovable lever at its middle portion so as to be free to move and. on oneside of the movable lever, a check lever with sloping side and a step isfixed and pin connected to a bracket am so as to be movable on the axis.

A spring provided and fixed to the bracket constantly tends to push thecheck lever toward the side of the reeling frame and by the movement ofthe connecting rod for stopping or starting the reeling'frame a clickengages with the ratchet wheel.

When the reeling frame suddenly stops, the frame axis and the movablelever will oscillate by the shock and will be sustained in its upwardposition by the stop in the check lever and thus the reeling frame willbe retained in position.

This invention thus provides for the device for automatically stoppingthe motion of the reeling frame.

The accompanying drawings give an example of the reeling machine showingthe application of this invention.

Fig. 1 is the longitudinal sectional elevation of a portion of thismachine.

Fig. 2 is a partial plan of the cocoon releasing pan and the apparatusfor supplyin cocoons with fibre ends to the pan taken on the line A-A inFi 1.

Fig. 3 is the partial longitudinal elevation showing the relationbetween the cocoon check plate provided at the end part of the conduitfor supplying cocoons with fibre ends and the end of the lever for theaddition of a new filament.

Fig. 4 is the partial sectional elevation showing the working conditionof the reeling frame.

Fig. 5 is the longitudinal elevation of the reeling frame during rest.

Fig. 6 is part sectional elevation of the reeling frame showing the samecondition as in Fig. 5.

The construction and working of the different parts of the automaticreeling machine of this invention will be fully explained referring tothe drawings as described above.

First referring to Fig. 1, Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, I shall explain about thecocoon releasing pan and the device for supplying cocoons with fibreends to the pan and alsothe part of the devices connected to the pan.

i is a trough shaped releasing on top oi which a rotary thread catcher 2and a knot remover I are provided as shown. On the front side of thereleasing pan I and in front of cocoon releasing part it directly belowthe thread catcher 2, a slim conduit 4 is provided and filled with hotwater so that one row of cocoons are arranged and made to float in thewater.

All beaten threads c issuing from the cocoons b are collectivelyconducted and wound over the sustaining rod 4 provided on one side ofthe conduit 4.

Near the end of the conduit 4 facing the pan I, curved cocoon checkplate 8 is fixed to one side of the conduit 4 and placed at a certaininclination to the pan, the check plate being preferably fork shapedwith slits as shown. The check plate has suitable clearances on theother side of the conduit and on the under and back sides of the plate.

On one side of the releasing pan, a movable lever I for the addition ofnew filament-is provided and free to move round an axis.

The end of the rocking lever I is placed close to the check plate 6,being bent at right angles near its outer end, and is fork shaped andserves as a hook 8 for picking up a cocoon and for fishing for thethread thereof so as to pick up one cocoon at a time. The base of therocking lever 1 is pivoted to the upper end of the rocking lever 9 andthe lever I rocks round the supporting point of the axis.

In the forward motion of the rocking lever I, the fork shaped hook I atthe end of the rocking lever 1 picks up or fishes one beaten thread andin that state moves upward on the axis of the upper end of the rockinglever l and comes close to the side of thread catcher 2 and thusconducts the fished thread to the rotating zone of the rotary catcher 2as shown in dotted lines on Fig. 1 and then the backward motion willcommence.

In the return motion of the rocking lever I, the fork shaped hooked end8 of the rocking lever 1 takes a different path, i. e., along the backand side of the check plate 6 as shown in dotted lines on Fig. 1.

At the close of the return motion, the hook proceeds through theunderside of'the check plate 6 and comes back to the first starting positiontaking the above explained special closed path.

To go into the mechanism for affording the movements, as explainedabove, toothed wheel ll vided in the rod IS, the roller II is kept inconstant touch with the cam.

The middle portion of the reversible bar It is pivoted to the rockinglever 9 and by the reverse motions of the red I krocjingmotion of therocking lever O is performed and the upper end of the lever which is theconnecting point of the thread adding lever 1 shifts from point d to dias shown on Fig. 1.

The point (I is the beginning point of the upward motion of the threadadding lever I and d1 is the finishing point of the downward motion ofthe lever I.

On the other end of the parallel shaft II, a rotating disc Iii is fixedand on its side, eccentrical- -ly situated, a crank pin 20 is fixed. Tothis crank pin, a rocking connecting rod 2| is connected the upper endof which is made to loosely fit in a groove 22 provided in the middlepart of the thread lever I and by the rotation of the disc I I andthrough the intermediate action of the crank pin II and the connectingrod 2|, upward or downward motion oi the thread lever I is performed.

The sustaining rod 5 for winding beaten threads, takes all threads 0from cocoons and winding them round, rotates in the direction shown bythe arrows and continues to push the ends of the extending threads I) ofthe cocoons toward the front of the conduit 4.

I The construction for rotating the sustaining rod I is as follows:

On the lower end of the sustaining rod 5, a grooved pulley 23 and on thepower shaft I! another grooved pulley 24 is fixed, these pulleys beingconnected by belt 25 the rotation of the power shaft l0 istransmitted tothe sustaining rod 5.

Now to explain about the working of the apparatus, beaten cocoons areadmitted into conduit 4 in one row, and the threads issuing from themare collectively wound on the sustaining rod I and accompanying therotation of the sustaining rod 5, the cocoons are pulled toward the panside end of the conduit 4 and the foremost cocoon is checked by and intouch with the cocoon check plate 6.

By the working of a certain starting device which will be explainedlater, the thread adding lever 1 commences to make an upward motion andthe fork shaped hooks 4 at the end of the thread adding lever 1 willrise up along the front side of the check plate 6 and at the same timepick up one cocoon touching the front face of the cocoon check plate 8and while finishing th'e cocoons, the beaten cocoons drop to thereleasing pan I. At the same time, the thread issuing from the cocoon ispicked up by the fork shaped hooks 8 and in that state taken to therotating zone of the rotating thread catcher 2 and thus the grasping ofthread is performed.

At the close of the upward motion of the thread adding lever I and atthe moment of commencement of downward motion, the reversible bar Imoves on account of the cam and thus the rocking point d of the threadadding lever 1 moves to di moving back in the direction of the axis ofthe conduit 4. The lever 9 takes a different path in its downwardmovement that is, it moves along the backside of the cocoon check plate6. After the lever completes its downward course, it proceeds again tothe front side of the check plate 6.

Now to explain about the construction for supplying and adding cocoonsto the conduit 4, a funnel shaped cocoon basin 2 is provided, ad-

joining the front end of the conduit 4 and near the entrance to theconduit leading cocoons from the basin 26 to the conduit 4, two curvedplates 21, 28 one on each side of the funnel and which may bealternately reversed, are provided. These plates regulate and assist thetransportation of the cocoons to the conduit, so that one cocoon at atime is admitted and carried. If two or more cocoons crowd together nearthe entrance to get in, they check each other andonly one cocoon at atime is conducted.

The mechanism for effecting the reversing of the position of the twocurved guide plates 21 and 28 for regulating the transportation ofcocoons is as follows:

Referring to Fig. l and Fig. 2, each of the curved plates 21 and 28 ismovably sustained by means of sustainers 29 which also serve as guidesfixed to the side walls of the cocoon basin 26.

To each of the guide plates 21 and 28, movable rods 30 and 3| areconnected respectively. The other ends of the rods 38 and 3| are pivotedto the ends of the connecting rod 32.

The middle portion of the connecting rod 32 is connected to an axleshaft 33 in such a way that the connecting rod may freely force aboutthe shaft 33.

For the movable shaft 33, a movable arm lever 34 is connected and thearm lever 34 is connected to connecting rod 35. In this way, the lever34 keeps connection with the upper end of the rocking lever 36.

This rocking lever 36has, in its middle part, a long groove 31 andloosely fitted in the groove and connected at one end of power shaft i8,is a crank disc 38.

Through the motion of this crank disc 38, the lever 36 rocks through theintermediation' of the connecting rod 35, arm rod 34 and the otherconnecting rod 32, the movable rods 30 and 3| being alternately movedand reversed.

To explain next about the other portion of the device of thisinvention, 1. e., the device for con--. ducting threads:

The threads going up from the rotary thread catcher 2 pass to a smallpulley 40 through the usual kennel twisting arrangement, then pass overa smaller pulley 4| and return again to the pulley 40. After being woundabout the pulley 48 once, the threads are conducted downwardly and passover a guide roller 43 on the rocking lever 42, then they are extendedupwardly again and wound on the larger pulley 44 on the same axis as thepulley 48 from which they proceed to the reeling frame 45. V

The smaller pulley 4|) and larger pulley 44 'are mounted on the sameaxis and rotate together and the thread passing round these pulleys isgiven a constant stretch and tension due to the difference of the speedsof the passing thread on these two pulleys.

The lever 42 with the thread conducting roller 43 on it, being supportedby and on a point 46, the arm containing the roller 43 has a naturaltendency to move down and is balanced by the tension of the thread goinground the roller 43 and is kept in position accordingly.

In this case, the tension of the thread passing over the roller 43 is ofcourse proportional to the degree of fineness of the 'thread. Whenthread is strong, lever 42 will have a tendency to move up and when itis thin, lever 42 will have tendency to move down.

The lever 42 has on its one end, a movable elec-.

trical contacting point 41 and in order to connect or disconnect thispoint, a stationary point 49 (consisting of a mercury pot) is providedon a supporting disc 48.

By means of these points 41 and 48 the 'electrical circuit 50 is eitherestablished or closed.

On the electrical circuit 50, an electric magnet is inserted. Whenmagnet 5| .is magnetized, this will attract the movable iron piece 52which is connected to one end of hook rod 53 which serves as the clickfor the partially toothed wheel |2 on Fig. 1.

Ordinarily the hook end 53a of the hook rod 53 engages with the click 54of the partially toothed wheel and thus keeps the latter in an immovableposition.

As shown on Fig. 1, the untoothed portion |2a of the wheel I2 is placedin touch with the toothed wheel II on the power shaft I8 and thereforethe rotation of the wheel M will not be transmitted to the wheel I2.

Suppose in that state the points 41 and 49 are placed in contact and theelectrical connection is established, then the magnet 5| will bemagnetized and the hook lever 53 will be attracted and the wheels i2 andII will be engaged and the partially toothed wheel l2 will rotate due tothe position of the cam H which also acts as a weight to thus start themechanism for the supply and addition and working of beaten cocoons bymeans of the lever l, which process was explained already.

Lastly we proceed to the other portion of this invention, that is, theconstruction of thread winding portion.

Referring now to Fig. 1, Fig. 4, Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, on the constantlyrotating wheel 55, a small friction wheel 56 is placed in contact sothat the small wheel is made to rotate by frictional transmission fromthe large wheel 55.

This wheel 56 is fixed to one end of the axis 51 on which the reelingframe is also mounted.

Closely neighboring the small friction wheel 56, side by side and on thesame axis, a ratchet wheel 58 is fixed and also a click 53 on one end ofa rocking lever 60 of hell crank shape, and the click 58 allows or stopsthe rotation of the ratchet wheel 58.

This rocking lever 68 is connected through a connecting rod 6| to therear end of the sustaining lever 62 which sustains the knot remover 3 onthe other end.

When the thread passing through the knot remover 3 have comparativelylarger knots and thereby pull up the knot remover 3 the rocking of thelever 62 will cause the connecting rod 6| to move down and also move therocking rod 68 down and the click 59.

The click 59 will thus engage with the ratchet wheel 58 and stop therotary motion of the reeling frame 45.

On one side of the rocking lever 68, a counterweight 63 is placed so asto balance said lever.

When the knot remover 3 operates without any interference, the lever 62and connecting rod 6| will be pulled up and the click 59 will not engagewith the ratchet wheel 58 and thus the ordinary state retained.

Again the ratchet wheel 58 of the reeling frame shaft 5'| is supportedby the rocking lever 65 at an intermediate point. The lever 65 may rockround the sustaining point 64, but still allows the winding wheel torotate round.

Adjoining the side of therocking lever 65, a checkrod 61 .having slopingside and a step 66 is fixed and pin connected to bracket arm 68 so as tobe movable round the common axis. The spring 59 will always tend to pushthe check rod 61 toward the side of the reeling frame 45 and concerningthe movement of the connecting rod SI for stopping or starting reelingframe, the click 58 engages with the ratchet wheel 58 and when therotation of the reeling frame suddenly stops, the lever 85 with thereeling frame axis will move up by the shock and then the step 66 of thecheck rod U will retain the lever 'in position-and thus the reelingframe 45 will keep its upward stop position.

On the under side of the rocking rod 65, an electrical contact piece 10is suspended and a stationary contact piece II is provided in theelectrical circuit 50 so as to be placed in or out of contact. When therocking lever \65 moves up and reeling frame stops its rotation, thepoint 10 will be placed out of contact. As long as the lever 65 goes upand the reeling frame stops its rotation these points will be separatedout and the device for supplying cocoons will stop its working also aswill be seen from Fig. 5.

Having now particularly described the nature of my invention, I declarethat what I claim is:

1. Apparatus for the control of cocoon supply mechanism including incombination with cocoon supply mechanism a small pulley over whichthread passes after leaving the supply mechanism, another pulleysituated beneath the first pulley and about which the thread is passed,a control circuit for the cocoon supply mechanism, a switch arm in theform oi a pivotally mounted lever interposed in the circuit and arrangedbeneath the pulleys, a guide roller on the switch arm and over which thethread is trained, a fixed contact interposed in the circuit and locatedbeneath the rocking lever, a further and larger pulley mounted on thesame axis asthe first pulley and about which the thread is trained afterleaving the guide roller, the thread being passed about the small andlarge pulleys to rotate said pulleys and the thread being given aconstant stretch and tension due to the constant speeds of the passingthread on the first and last mentioned pulleys, the arrangement beingsuch that the thread is given a certain constant stretch and tension dueto the dlflerent speeds of the passing thread on to said pulleys and therocking lever is made to move in accordance with the tension of thethread in proportion to the degree of fineness oi the thread and whenthe denler" of the thread decreases the switch lever moves to close thecircuit thereby starting the cocoon supply mechanism.

2. An arrangement as claimed in claim 1 wherein one end of the pivotallymounted lever terminates in a contact point for associating with thefixed contact disposed therebeneath, a magnet interposed in the circuit,and a control member for the cocoon supplying mechanism associated withthe magnet which when the contacts are engaged to energize the magnetthe latter acts to start the mechanism for supplying fresh cocoons.

ISOJI KOWADA.

